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Published: November 6th 2006
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Luna - our Faithful Friend
We drove poor Luna thousands of miles, from San Francisco all the way up to Canada, back down to Las Vegas, ending back up in California where we sold her! Greeting from Port Angeles, Washington State!
The last time I wrote was in Mexico over a month ago. Since getting to the States things have been totally hectic.
We flew into San Francisco on June 6th and by midnight that day we had bought ourselves a car! It’s our first car (for all of us) so we are quite attached to her! We affectionately call her "Luna" as we bought her on a full moon. Being our first car, however, we’ve had a few minor teething problems. Knowing that she leaked oil, we decided we had better check it regularly. We flipped the bonnet, only to find we couldn’t then lift it - no- one told us there was another catch under the bonnet!!!
The roads here also took some getting used to. Several times we’ve set off on the wrong side of the road. The rules are very different too. We were treating the "stop" signs as "Give Way" - if not traffic was coming we just went straight through. The American friend we were staying with, Scott, freaked out and said we HAD to come to a complete stop, even if nothing was coming - weird!
One morning we woke up to find the car absolutely dead. It turned out we had left the lights on all night - ooops! We got a jump start, then drove three miles down the road to a tourist info centre. When we came out, the battery was dead again. How were we supposed to know you had to drive for a long time to recharge the battery!!!?
The worst thing we did, however, was when we tried to park on a really steep hill in San Francisco. It was soooo hard to get biting point and the handbreak wouldn’t hold it on such a steep gradient, so we ended up rolling into the car in front - ooops again!!!
Despite all this, we have had a great time driving in the states. We’ve driven on Lombard Street, the most crooked street in San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge, through a giant redwood tree, and onto a drive-on log!
Whilst in San Francisco we went to Yosemite National park for a long weekend, and went on a day trip to Santa Cruz and the Sonoma Valley (wine tasting country). I also met up with a friend from
Lombard Street,, San Francisco
The most crooked street in San Francisco Japan, Allison.
After leaving San Francisco we headed north to the Redwoods National park and then Crater Lake in Oregon. Scott and I were the only ones mad enough to plunge into the freezing cold water for a quick swim! Next we headed to the Colombia River Gorge to a friend’s wedding, which was really nice, then to Portland, and Seattle to stay with a friend of mine from Japan, Lucy. It was really nice to catch up with everyone again.
Have to go as we are about to light the BBQ for the 4th July celebrations!
Will reply to you all asap!!! Please be patient!
Bye for now,
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